


A Different Investigation

by orphan_account, wendigo_whxre_max



Category: Everyman HYBRID, Marble Hornets, Tribe Twelve, Various Other Slenderverse
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Angst, Anxiety, Aro/Ace Jessica, Canon-Typical Violence, Depression, F/M, Happy Alex! Remember him?, Heavy Angst, Hurt No Comfort, Hurt/Comfort, Insomnia, It's Not Paranoia If They're Really Out To Get You, Kidnapping, M/M, Murder, Mutual Pining, No Operator/No Slenderman/Etc., Panic Attacks, Paranoia, Pining, Purple Duct Tape, Scars, Self-Harm, Stalking, Suicide, attempted suicide, i mean they were college age but there's no fucking SLENDERMAN this time so yeah, past self-harm, stalkers
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-07-02
Updated: 2017-08-05
Packaged: 2018-11-22 08:04:32
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 8
Words: 3,586
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11376036
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account, https://archiveofourown.org/users/wendigo_whxre_max/pseuds/wendigo_whxre_max
Summary: Just because there's no faceless monster, doesn't mean there's no problems.





	1. Sweet Tangerine

Did Tim think he'd be climbing through a window at 3:34 in the morning?

Honestly, he wasn't too surprised. 

He didn't think he'd spend five minutes tapping the glass, though.

Jay was almost always awake. He stayed up late to the point it was concerning. Studying film theory, taking notes, tweaking the old Marble Hornets script. (There was no way Alex was ever finishing that movie. Jay, however, seemed to edit the script at any given time. It calmed him down, so Tim didn't complain.)

And his roommate, Noah, wasn't the deepest sleeper. Which is probably why the window opened to Noah Maxwell himself, glaring at Tim.

"....Hey." Tim tilted his head, hanging onto the windowsill. "Can I come in?"

"It's three in the morning."

"Yeah. I know."

Noah gave him an exasperated look. "You know, some of us like to sleep when we can? I already have your boyfriend keeping me up at night. I don't need you breaking in."

"....Tell him to meet me outside, I guess." Tim shrugged. "Also, he's not my boyfriend."

"Yeah, whatever." Noah slammed the window shut, narrowly avoiding Tim's fingers. Tim cursed under his breath, climbing down, jumping to the ground with a thump. The leaves crunched under his boots.

"You match the scenery." 

Jay was walking towards him, shivering in his pajamas.

"You could have put on a jacket."

"If I spent another second moving around in there, Noah was going to start throwing things."

"Fair enough. And what do you mean I 'match the scenery'?" Tim wrinkled his nose.

"Well. You're wearing a flannel shirt and boots. That's autumn-ey. Right?"

"That's...I guess." Tim shrugged, reaching into his bag to pull out a cigarette.

"Hey. No. Bad for you." Jay smacked his hand.

"Really? I thought it was a cancer cure."

"Being an ass isn't necessary." Jay crossed his arms. His hair was ruffled, eyes still more exhausted than the rest of him, even with his slumped shoulders. He was wearing the kind of fuzzy pants you'd see your mom in.

He looked cute.

Fuck, wait, no.

"So? Why are you here?" Jay waved his hand in front of Tim's face.

"Huh?"

"I figured you had a reason to wake me up at three in the morning."

"Oh. Oh! Uh, yeah. Here." 

Tim reached into his bag and grabbed a small box. "So, I missed your birthday, because I'm an asshole, but I'm going to try to make up for it now."

Jay carefully took the box out of his hands, opening it. He pulled out...a new camera.

"Oh. Oh! Tim! Thanks! Holy shit!" Jay laughed, taking it out of the box.

"I set everything up, and you can start recording on it straight away." Tim shrugged.

"This is so cool. Thank you. Thanks. Yeah."

"You're welcome, I guess. Happy late birthday. You...should go to bed."

Jay smiled at him, pausing before hugging him. Tim made a surprised 'huh' sound when he did. 

"Thanks, Tim. See you in the morning."

As he watched Jay run off, Tim regretted his recording on that goddamn camera.

The recording of him asking Jay out.


	2. Momentum

"You fondling that stupid camera looks fucking weird.." Noah soon mumbled, looking at Jay from across the room.

Why did he have to inspect very little aspect of the camera? He hasn't even turned the damn thing on yet.

"It's a nice camera- Nothing wrong with admiring good craftsmanship." Jay retorted,looking over at Noah.

"Hey, a camera's a camera to me. If it can record then it's good." He soon said, leaning back against the wall.

Jay finally decided to turn it on and now spent the next five minutes trying and looking at every feature on the camera. At least he had something to be passionate about. Jay found something odd though. There was one video on the camera.

"Hey, come check this out." Jay soon said to Noah, showing him that there was something on there.

Noah raised an eyebrow. "Seems strange.. We should probably watch it though just to see what it is." Noah said, Jay nodding in agreement, soon scooting beside Noah that way both of them could see it.

Jay used the camera's buttons to select the video,playing it.

The first thing that played was a close up of a flannel shirt along with the sounds of things shifting, meaning they were setting up the camera.

"Hey, it's Tim." The man in the video spoke, backing away from the camera. He looked a tad nervous in the video, seeming to fumble with the ends of his sleeves, constantly adjusting them. "If you are seeing this, that means I gave you the camera. No doubt I'm regretting it though-" Tim soon begun.

Noah didn't seem to interested in the video, constantly looking away to look at just about everything in the room then glancing back.

Jay had his full attention on the video. He was watching every movement Tim made and listened to every word.

"So, probably should just say what I need to say, I guess." Tim said, mumbling something under his breath, which couldn't be heard. "Jay, I like you- Like, not in just a friend way-" He soon said, his hands soon rubbing his face. "God, this is so stupid-" Tim mumbled in the video.

"Oh my god. Can't believe the fucker actually said it." Noah said, soon looking over.

"Fuck, uh.. So, if you'd like- I'd like to go somewhere with you- as in a date- of course. But, that's all up to you." Tim said, rubbing the back of his neck. "You have my number so, gimme a call whenever you'd like-" He finished, heading towards the camera and shutting it up, the video ending.

Jay was awestruck. His face was a bit flushed. He didn't know how to react to that. Well, he did, but he didn't want to make a fool of himself in front of Noah. Jay used his hands to cover his face. Wow, how long had Tim felt like that? Would it be okay if he-

"You gonna call him or you just gonna sit there?" Noah snorted, interrupting whatever thoughts Jay was having. 

"Call him- Oh, yeah uh- Gimme a moment-" Jay soon said, scrambling around to look for his phone.

"Where is it.." He mumbled, Noah soon standing up and walking over to the dresser and grabbed Jay's phone.

"Dude." Noah soon said, waving it around in his hand to catch his attention. Jay gave a sheepish chuckle, seeing how silly he was being. "Thanks-" Jay then said, soon taking his phone and scrolling through his messages, since it was the easiest way to find Tim's contact.

"Go ahead and call. I'm gonna go eat something." Noah sighed,heading out of the room.

Jay took in a deep breath. "Okay, you got this." He whispered to himself,clicking the icon to call Tim.

It was funny how hard his heart was beating upon hearing the phone ring three times, before someone picked up.

"..Hello?"

"Hey Tim, it's me Jay- uh.."

Oh boy, Tim was about to lose it. He saw the dumb video. Shit, shit. He wasn't ready for this.

"So, the video you sent me.. it's uh.. well- I think that's pretty sweet of you, heh-" Jay stammered, sounding a tad nervous. No doubt his face was practically glowing with color. At least Noah wasn't here to give him weird looks or mutter stuff like, _"Really? That's the best you got?"_

Jay took in a deep breath. "So, you wanna discuss what day?"

Oh god, Tim nearly threw his phone across the room in surprise.

"Wait, wait- You- You want to do the date?" Tim asked, seeming a bit skeptical of it.

"Well, of course. Otherwise I would call-" Jay chuckled nervously.

God, he's too cute. Tim couldn't hide the grin on his face.

"Great, well. I dunno any good places to go unless you wanna go eat a pizza or a burger. Wait, hold on. I think I actually got a coupon for pizza." Tim grumbled, the sounds of papers being shuffled around. "The fuck is it?" Tim said, sounding distant. Jay chuckled a bit, soon hearing Tim return.

"Alright, how does a pizza sound at the park?" Tim asked, picking his phone back up and putting it to his ear.

"Sounds great. What time?" Jay asked him, leaning back a bit on the floor.

"Hm, we can meet up around two this afternoon? I can bring the pizza." He said, looking at the clock. It was around ten or so in the morning so they had plenty of time.

"Alright, I'm gonna bring a loaf of bread to feed the ducks." Jay chirped.

"See you there." Tim said, hanging up the phone.

"You are so gay." Noah interjected, poking his head back into the room, seeming to have a bowl of cereal in his hands.

Jay glared at him.

"Oh really? How's Kevin?" He asked in a teasing tone.

"Oh, you shut the fuck up." Noah mumbled, heading out of the room once again.

Jay was beaming with joy. He'd better get ready.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hope this isn't too bad - max
> 
> [Written by Max, Edited by Ever]


	3. Timothy Wrong

"I can't believe you actually brought bread."

Tim stared at Jay, who was clutching a plastic-wrapped loaf of bread in his hands.

"What, did you think I was joking?" Jay scoffed. "I am _serious_ about my duck-feeding, _Timothy_."

"Y'know, bread is actually kind of bad for ducks." Tim pointed out.

Jay's face fell. "Shit, really?"

"Totally. I read it on tumblr."

"And you're believing it?"

"Something strange on my tumblr? Duh."

"Oh, shut up." Jay rolled his eyes. Tim rolled his back.

"It's almost winter. Why did we choose the park?"

They began to walk towards the pond, drifting in between closeness and not.

"You tell me."

"You chose the date location."

"Jason, I sincerely remember you suggesting this damn park."

"Jay isn't even short for anything, oh my god!"

"Jason?"

Jay laughed, a nice sort of crackly-tinkly sound. "No!"

"James?"

" _It's just Jay!_ "

"....Joseph."

"Tim," Jay groaned.

"......"

"....."

"....Jalapeño."

"TIM, THAT IS NOT EVEN A NAME."

At that point, Tim started laughing too, stopping to hunch over, holding his stomach. Jay stopped too. Oh my god, his laugh was starting to sound like a giggle. _Don't lose it, Wright. That would be hella gay._

Before they could even get to the pond, Tim's phone buzzed in his pocket. He cursed, opening it.

_Brian is calling...._

"Lemme take this." Tim pressed the phone to his ear. 

However, a female voice came over the speaker, so shrill Tim held his phone away from his ear.

"Tim! Ohmigod, Tim!"

"....Jessica? Why are you calling me from Brian's phone?"

"Where are you? Where are you? Wherareyouohmigod."

"Calm down! I'm at the park with Jay."

"Are you both okay?"

"We're _fine_. Jessica, what's going on?"

"It's Alex, they found him, ohmigod they found him, Alex-"

"Jessica, what are you-"

"ALEX IS DEAD!"


	4. A L E X

Tim wasn't fond of Alex. Alex was _unbearable_.Alex once tried to get him to play a role in his film, Marble Hornets, and the only reason Tim agreed was because Jay and Brian were involved. Alex was an arrogant prick that lacked the basic ability to write a coherent and interesting storyline, despite the fact that he was studying this stuff.

And now he was dead.

Tim ran a hand through his hair and exhaled shakily. His chest was tightening. He didn't know how to react to this. He glanced at Jay, who had a look of nervous curiousness on his face. Tim's gut twisted. Jay tried not to panic at Tim's worried expression.

"Okay, listen, um-- Jay and I are on our way. Just, uh, hang tight--where are you?" 

There was a sniff from the other end. "Brian's dorm. Hurry."

Jessica hung up before he could get another word in.

Tim sighed heavily. Jay wasn't going to just blindly cancel the date without finding out what happened. Tim whirled around to face him, and the confusion and nervousness made him ache.

"Alex is dead."

\--

Once Tim calmed down Jay, who at first went into shock, then started asking if it was a joke, then started sobbing hysterically, they climbed into the car and drove off. It was quiet.

"Listen, uh, I'm sorry--"

"It's okay."

"I didn't really know him--" _Beyond him being on my case because I didn't deliver my line right--_

" _It's okay._ "

It wasn't okay. Tim kept driving.

\--

When they got to Brian's dorm, Jessica was quiet but shaking and breathing heavily. Brian held her and stared at Tim blankly. His eyes flashed a message that Tim saw but couldn't decipher.

".....Hey," Tim said, softly, sitting down on the couch opposite them. It felt like it was filled with styrofoam. Jay sat down next to him, hands fidgeting in his lap. 

"What happened?!" Jay blurted out. He was still shaking. 

"...Like Jessica told you earlier...Alex is dead." Brian said, his voice strained but even. It was weird to see him like this.

"B-but....how?!" Jay waved his hands. It looked like one of those ridiculous, forced scenes in movies, movies like Alex's ow-

Fuck. 

Alex was actually fucking dead, wasn't he?

"They found him in the-"

"Park downtown!" Jessica shouted, sobbing. "Stabbed!"

"So, wait....there's foul play here?" Tim leaned forward in his seat, settling his elbows on his knees.

"Well, yeah. People don't usually brutally stab themselves."

"Does-"

"Amy, Seth, and Sarah got the information, yeah. They're flying in for the funeral."

The room grew even more tense at use of the word "funeral"- once again, snapping into place what they already knew. Alex Kralie was dead, and it was probably murder.

"So what in the hell do we do know?" 

"....Wait for the funeral?" Brian shrugged. No matter how hard Tim tried, his best friend's face remained unreadable. 

Jay stood up. 

"No. N-no, I'm not- no." Jay snapped, running a hand through his hair.

"N-not what?" Jessica mumbled, still trembling.

"Somebody killed Alex! I'm not just gonna wait around for the police to solve the case! They never solved it for that Charlie Jennings case, for god's sake. Nobody even knows where he is. Why would they be able to solve Alex's?!"

Tim had never seen Jay like this- so angry and....god, he didn't have words besides 'anger', the simplest one at his disposal.

"So what are you planning to do?" Brian interjected.

Jay looked at all of them, and said with full confidence,  
"I'm gonna solve a murder."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter written/edited by Ever. (Co-written by Ever's datemate, who will remain unnamed but loved!)


	5. Facts and Figures

Evan didn't.... _dislike_ his roommate, in any capacity. Honestly, he could sort of care less about Tim- but not when the guy was acting this weird.

Evan and Tim were hardly ever in the dorm at the same time. Tim was always either in class or escaping to places Evan didn't know and, honestly, couldn't care less about. Evan himself was mostly out with the people who were actually his friends. Tim wasn't exactly a friendly guy, unless he was talking to that Merrick kid, who he seemed very obviously obsessed with. (And that other guy, the one Evan sat next to in Lit. Brian something.)

But he wasn't normally so twitchy. And he didn't normally miss all of his classes, as his teachers had pointed out to Evan, convinced he would have a reason.

"It's like they expect me to know everything about him, just because we're roommates." Evan tapped his fingers against the side of the soda can in his hand. 

".....I mean, I know a good amount about Jay." Noah offered. He was sitting across from him at the cafeteria table, a long forgotten sandwich balanced between forefinger and thumb. Evan wondered how he held it like that.

"Yeah, but Jay's... _Jay_."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Stephanie leaned forward. It was a rare occasion for her to have time to eat lunch for the whole group. (But thank god she could. She bought Subway.)

"I don't know! He seems....easy to talk to."

"And Tim isn't?"

"He isn't!"

Noah shrugged. "To me, he mostly seems antisocial. You could just talk to him next time you see him. I mean, how hard is that?"

"He's basically a brick wall of a person."

"You're basically scared to talk to him," Jeff piped up, crossing his arms.

"What the fuck?! No. He's just weird."

"I bet he says the same about you." Vinnie tilted his head.

"Whatever, _Mom_."

 

At the end of lunch, Vinnie caught Evan at the door, gently grabbing and holding onto his wrist. 

"Hey." He locked eyes with him. "Is everything okay? With...?"

Evan frowned. "With what?"

"Y'know. That...guy."

"What guy?"

Vinnie glanced away. "The 'Habit' kid."

At just the nickname, Evan's body stiffened.

"....I haven't seen him lately."

"All of your clothes are there."

"Yeah..."

"I. I just. Evan, I just-"

"Worry about me. I know."

Vinnie sighed and let go of Evan's wrist.

"I'll see you later."

"You too, buddy."

 

Evan wasn't just going to _tell_ Vinnie about the pairs of jeans that vanished from his drawers last night.

Or the purple duct tape left where they had been.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Written/Edited by Ever


	6. Purple Duct Tape

"Jay. Jay. Jay, jus-"

"Just what?! Let the police handle it? Hmm?" Jay threw up his arms.

Noah opened his mouth but closed it again. He couldn't exactly prove his roommate wrong- because that's _exactly_ what he was going to say.

Jay was staring at him intently, his thin frame shaking slightly- more so than usual. His hair looked unwashed, and it had only been a few weeks since....

Alex...passed away.

"....At least let me help you. You're overworking yourself." Noah gulped. The pot calling the kettle black.

"You didn't- y-you didn't even _know_ Alex."

"That's not the point. I know you. Right?"

"....Yeah, right." Jay scratched the back of his neck, rocking on the balms of his feet.

"Yeah, right." Noah echoed, nodding. "So what's your plan?"

"My plan is to break in to Alex's house."

Noah made a choked gasping noise.

 

It was 10:34 PM and Noah was supporting Jay high enough to raise him into a window, feeling the bottoms of his   
sneakers dig into his palms. 

"....So Alex's roommates are out?"

"Yeah, he always brought me around about this time. The house is empty because his two roommates are getting wasted." Jay shuffled his feet, almost causing Noah to drop him, at which the two both let out girly screams. Jay finally grabbed something from below the windowsill, with a quiet 'A-ha!'

"What's that?"

"Alex's window key."

"Why do you know where it is...?"

Jay didn't answer, opening the window with a small clinking sound and climbing through the window, holding out a hand to pull Noah up, with only ~~a lot of~~ mild difficulty.

Noah dusted off his pants, while Jay was already sleuthing through Alex's room.

It looked...untouched. Noah spotted a shirt tossed on the floor. He realized Alex would never wash it. 

"What are you looking for?" Noah looked at Jay, who was sifting through a box.

"The- the tapes-" Jay groaned, sitting on the bed and holding his head in his hands.

"....Tapes?"

"Alex did video diaries. On tapes- I thought-"

"....Are you su-"

"The box is empty. They're gone. It's just got-"

Noah was already looking in the box. He was shaking, gripping the sides, digging his fingernails into the cardboard.

"Noah? Is something wrong?"

The box contained a roll of purple duct tape.

Noah puked.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Written by Ever.
> 
> Sorry about the incredibly short chapter- it's been sitting in my notes for god knows how long.
> 
> Oh, and, the plot thickens- I suppose.


	7. Bad Habits

"....Evan? Like, Evan Jennings?"

"No, Evan Peters. YES, EVAN JENNINGS!" Noah pulled at his own hair, pacing the room anxiously. "That- that fucking purple-"

"It's just tape, right?" Jay stuck his tongue out a little, pulling at the purple tape. "What's the big deal...?"

"You know that kid, right? The Habit kid?"

Well, that was a stupid question, Noah. Everyone knew Habit. Habit, the scrawny kid who ran around with a rabbit mask for 'medical reasons'. He was always threatening to fight people or making disgusting comments. Or...or, he was....

"The kid who wears a mask?" Jay tilted his head. "With the bunny ears on it?"

"...Yeah, that guy. _That guy_. He- he likes to give Evan a hard time. We- basically- Jeff's pretty sure he's stalking Evan."

"Stalking?!" Jay sat up straight. "Shouldn't- did you guys tell the _police_?!"

"Of course we did! He hangs around Evan all the time, and leaves that purple duct tape around, and fucking _steals his clothes_ -"

"Then why hasn't he been arrested?!"

" _Because they don't believe us, Jay!_ "

"W-why not?"

" _WE DON'T HAVE PROOF!_ "

Jay jumped back at sudden shout, his shoulder hitting the wall. He hissed in pain and held it.

Noah took a deep breath, looking at Jay. Really, he should have known- not to raise his voice. It was kind of a rule, around Jay, if he had thought to remember it. 

"....Sorry." He sat back down. "You okay?"

Jay's shoulders were shaking. "...It's fine. S-so...you don't have proof?"

"No, but- we've seen him with that same tape, and he wears Evan's clothes around."

"Isn't that enough? For the police, I mean?"

"They checked the camera and haven't seen Habit go in there- from any angle." Noah sighed, leaning back, locking his thumbs together. "Evan said it stopped, but-"

Jay just held up the duct tape and shook it. Noah nodded.

"....Should we tell them?"

"Hell yeah." Noah replied.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Written by Ever.
> 
> I swear, longer chapters are coming. Have patience.


	8. Sorry.

Orphaning this. Max...my other writer recently passed away.  
So there's no way this is getting finished.  
Bye.

-Prima

**Author's Note:**

> This is literally my first serious Slenderverse fic. So some characters might seem a little out of character, but I'm trying, swear to god.


End file.
